Saving the scratch-off fund

Things are looking brighter for veterans who buy a $2 scratch-off ticket in hopes that it will help out those who have served and, in many cases, suffered so that the rest of us can live in freedom.

The Senate Veterans Affairs & Military Installations Committee unanimously approved a measure to ensure that proceeds generated by the Veterans Cash lottery ticket not be shifted into the state budget. So far, around $11 million has been netted from ticket sales, with the money supporting a variety of causes ranging from helping homeless veterans find shelter to treating victims of post-traumatic stress disorder, a malady that is stunningly common among troops.

The creator of Senate Bill 1739, Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, wanted to make sure that proceeds from Veterans Cash kept going to their many worthy causes, a number of them right here in San Antonio — one a consumer credit counseling service.

It makes sense that Davis, who along with Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, helped spearhead creation of the scratch-off ticket, would want to protect her baby amid a budget crisis of epic proportions. She filed the bill before Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, amended a budget blueprint to include a diversion of $2.8 million from the scratch-off tickets to the cash-strapped Texas Veterans Commission.

But things are looking up.

Ogden has stepped back from his own proposal. I didn’t know that until seeing a message earlier today from our Austin Bureau chief, Peggy Fikac, that included a comment from him. Ogden, once a submariner, said he would “take another look” at the amendment before finishing a budget that could have a $27 billion deficit.

“We may reverse that,” he said. “I meant no harm. We were trying to make sure that our veterans commission was adequately funded and to the extend that it’s only $2 million we’ll take another look at it.”

Technically, it’s really closer to $3 million, about one-third of the permanent fund created by the scratch-off ticket. It’s a lot of money when you think of how the loss of those funds could affect groups around the state. In any case, it’s good news, as a short listing of around 40 groups that have received money from the ticket shows.

In Houston, Sheltering Arms Senior Services received $339,110 to help 45 veterans stay in their homes. The Child Crisis Center of El Paso, home to the growing Fort Bliss, got $313,953. MHMR of Tarrant County, which helps veterans suffering from PTSD and traumatic brain injury, as well as their families, got $846,799.

Funnel one-third of those scratch-off fees into the veterans commission budget and someone out there is going to lose.

It could have been a Von Ormy couple, one a Vietnam veteran and the other who also served elsewehere during the war, who were able to keep their home after receiving a $1,970 grant funded by scratch-off sales.

In a letter, they wrote: “Please let all the people who have created the fund know that we are forever grateful for their assistance in helping veterans like us in our times of need.”